diff --git a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/default.nix b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/default.nix
index 18db0e5ba81..ff093764267 100644
--- a/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/desktops/gnome-3/default.nix
@@ -399,6 +399,8 @@ lib.makeScope pkgs.newScope (self: with self; {
 
   gnome-packagekit = callPackage ./misc/gnome-packagekit { };
 
+  # TODO: remove this after 18.09 has forked off
+  gconf = throw "gconf is deprecated since 2009 and has been removed from the package set. Use gnome2.GConf instead. For more details see https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/43268";
 } // lib.optionalAttrs (config.allowAliases or true) {
 #### Legacy aliases